Picture Perfect

A new book goes behind the scenes of Austin’s golden age of music

By Megan Hix

Published: August 2, 2015

As someone who has been part of our city’s music industry for 40 years, Mark Proct has seen and experienced the kind of stuff that most people only hear about. Fortunately, he captured many of these candid backstage moments and shares them in his new book of photos, Home Today, Gone Tomorrow, out now. The snapshots go back to when Proct was working his way up from his first industry job as a sound technician for Willie Nelson in 1975 to the years he managed Jimmie Vaughan, Storyville, the Arc Angels and other artists beginning in the mid-1980s.

Calling the process “a labor of love,” Proct started digging through 2,000 photos four years ago. Most were shot with a Kodak Instamatic before he switched to an iPhone during his days on the road. “There are plenty of photos of Stevie Ray Vaughan with his guitar,” he says. But he spent a great deal of time cherry-picking the ones that show what life was like behind the scenes, like exploring Europe with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and hanging out in the green room at Madison Square Garden.

In many ways, the visual story of Proct’s career reflects the history of the capital city’s evolving music industry, which now more than ever seems to be at a tipping point. According to the Austin Music Census released in June, most musicians make less than $10,000 a year from their craft, a figure that unsettles Proct. “Those young bands have to pay their bills just like everybody else,” the 60-year-old says, suggesting that the city should “be proactive and make some changes or musicians will disappear.”

Even with these challenges, Proct believes Austin can still hold on to its title as the Live Music Capital of the World and return to the glory of what it was in the ’70s and ’80s. Despite shifting attitudes, it’s the work ethic and passion he saw in artists back then that still makes successful musicians. “In today’s music world, there is no correct model to follow,” he says. “Just get out there and give it 100 percent.”